Camera advice?

[mrgreen4242]

Sounds good to us. Get the D40.

My friend loves his, but he always tells me that he wants to buy a better camera because he likes my photos more. *shakes head*

Tell him to take a photography class and buy my Wii instead of getting a new camera. That would solve everyone's problems.

I wanted to really thank everyone who commented in this thread... very helpful discussion and suggestions that probably saved me from buying the wrong camera (I would have certainly ended up getting either a "nice" point and shoot/"bridge" camera without your prodding).

 

[theblueone]

Tell him to take a photography class...

Since you brought it up, I'll note that, once you get your camera, you should take your own advice. By far, the photography dollars that have gone the farthest for me (by a factor of ten, at least, and I've spent the thousands just like people tend to do ) have been the few hundred I spent to take a semester-long photography class at a local college.

Good luck! It sounds like you're making a good decision for your needs!

 

[mrgreen4242]

Since you brought it up, I'll note that, once you get your camera, you should take your own advice. By far, the photography dollars that have gone the farthest for me (by a factor of ten, at least, and I've spent the thousands just like people tend to do ) have been the few hundred I spent to take a semester-long photography class at a local college.

Good luck! It sounds like you're making a good decision for your needs!

I will. I'll start with learning what I can on my own, and then I'll probably buy my aunt lunch in exchange for a day of lessons (she's a pro photographer, although mostly does videography now) and then either a course or some seminars in the area (the first two are practically free, I'll have to save up some spare cash for the latter, and after a $400+ camera and a dive trip I'm planning next summer I'll be tapped).

 

[mrgreen4242]

I stopped in at Circuit City today to feel out the cameras. The d40 on display had the 80-200mm lens on it and had all kinds of trouble autofocusing. The d60 had the 18-55mm and focused in an instant. Was the d40 defective or is that normal with that lens?

 

[rogersmj]

The store had a 80-200mm on a D40?? Or was it the more common (at that entry level, at least) 55-200mm?

My D40 autofocuses quite fast, and the D60 in theory uses the same system so I think either the lens or that particular unit you were holding has an issue.

 

[mrgreen4242]

The store had a 80-200mm on a D40?? Or was it the more common (at that entry level, at least) 55-200mm?

My D40 autofocuses quite fast, and the D60 in theory uses the same system so I think either the lens or that particular unit you were holding has an issue.

I meant 55-200; I typed that one handed on my touch while giving the baby a bottle... my mistake. The 55-200 with VR is probably the only other lens I'll buy in the next few years unless I get crazy into photography, so I wanted to make sure that the AF works "normally" with that lens on the D40.

 

[rogersmj]

Ah yes. I have that lens, the 55-200mm VR, with my D40. For the money (about $180), I can't complain. As long as there's enough light, the AF is fast. It's a slow lens though, so when things start to dim it has to think about whether it wants to focus or go get a coffee first. But like I said, for the money you're not going to get anything better.

EDIT: If you're going to be taking pictures indoors, especially of your baby and other people, definitely buy a flash. I picked up the Nikon SB-400 a few weeks ago, and the ability to bounce my flash indoors makes my pictures of people 1000% better. If you don't believe me, go here and scroll down to the first picture of his mother with the baby. Mouse over it. Yeah, it makes that big of a difference. It's the best $110 I've spent on my D40.

 

[mrgreen4242]

Ah yes. I have that lens, the 55-200mm VR, with my D40. For the money (about $180), I can't complain. As long as there's enough light, the AF is fast. It's a slow lens though, so when things start to dim it has to think about whether it wants to focus or go get a coffee first. But like I said, for the money you're not going to get anything better.

EDIT: If you're going to be taking pictures indoors, especially of your baby and other people, definitely buy a flash. I picked up the Nikon SB-400 a few weeks ago, and the ability to bounce my flash indoors makes my pictures of people 1000% better. If you don't believe me, go here and scroll down to the first picture of his mother with the baby. Mouse over it. Yeah, it makes that big of a difference. It's the best $110 I've spent on my D40.

Thanks for the advice. The store was fairly well lit - regular retail light levels. The camera wouldn't autofocus at all, really. It would give up after maybe a second of trying and just give a blurry result. If I aimed it at something close it would work, usually, so it must just have been busted. Glad you like the 55-200 VR. I figure I'll want something like that for outdoor shooting (it's probably a bit long for my normal indoor) so light should be alright in most cases.

Also thanks for the advice on the flash. The difference is certainly impressive. I'll look into it once I get a camera and see how it does with the built in flash for me, etc.

 

[mrgreen4242]

Well, just wanted to thank you all. I ordered a D40 and the standard kit lens last night and it'll get here on Tuesday. Picked up a Zing camera wrap for it (it'll live in my normal daily bag, protected by the wrap) and the D40 Field Guide.

Looking forward to learning how to use this, but wanted to thank everyone for steering me in the "right" direction!

 

[R.Youden]

Congratulations on your new toy. I got a new digital camera a month or so and it is so much fun. The only problem I find is that you can get carried away and end up wanting almost ever lens going! Then the flash, oh and the bag, but you will need a good tri-pod, ah yes and a macro lens and you will need the ring flash to go with that, but also a better tri-pod for the macro lens, wait, you will also need a bigger bag, but that is too big so you will also need a small carry bag.......

Anyway, have fun!

 

[Westside guy]

Looking forward to learning how to use this, but wanted to thank everyone for steering me in the "right" direction!

It's easy to steer in the "right" direction in this case, since there are very few directions that are truly wrong.

Congratulations and have fun!

 

[Phrasikleia]

Congratulations on your new toy. I got a new digital camera a month or so and it is so much fun. The only problem I find is that you can get carried away and end up wanting almost ever lens going! Then the flash, oh and the bag, but you will need a good tri-pod, ah yes and a macro lens and you will need the ring flash to go with that, but also a better tri-pod for the macro lens, wait, you will also need a bigger bag, but that is too big so you will also need a small carry bag.......

Anyway, have fun!

And of course the CPL filter and maybe a UV, and an extra battery, and then a better camera strap, and then a terabyte or two of disk space to store all the photos...

It never stops!

 

[mrgreen4242]

And of course the CPL filter and maybe a UV, and an extra battery, and then a better camera strap, and then a terabyte or two of disk space to store all the photos...

It never stops!

I've got a pretty big HDD setup as it is (1.3TB's total) but I did want to mention that I'm going to get a Flickr Pro account. I wrote a little Automator script that automatically uploads all the photo's from any digital camera I plug into my computer to my Flickr account while it imports them into iPhoto.

It's pretty slick and I get a "free" backup up everything I shoot ($25 a year for unlimited disk space mind as well be free, at least). I'll just have to figure out what to do with RAW files, if I shoot any, as I'm not sure how Flickr handles those.